SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

LIVING OUT MARTIN LUTHER KING JR'S DREAM (me!) ~topps

i am a survivor.  the #2 victim of the lakeside serial rapist who kidnapped at gunpoint, covered up and raped anywhere from 9 to 11 victims in san leandro california in the mid 1980's.  his first victim (that is, first known to police victim; #1) committed suicide. the last victim, (before the serial rapes stopped) was murdered.  the serial rapist remained (remains) at large.   the lakeside serial rapist was a black male wearing a black hoodie, and i only saw his face for one second before a gun was put to my temple.

-be me for 30 seconds..  in the aftermath of this life threatening, shocking, traumatic, brutal experience

when the rapist kept claiming new victims, and could be anywhere, any time

where, because i only saw his face for one second..   literally could be any black male, in any direction i walked, drove, shopped   -with only the ability to rule out very tall, very large, or very short, very small black males

it is to be terrorized; i understand the experience of being terrorized.   -by a black male; wearing a black hoodie

be me for 30 seconds, when this recent trend started, and encouraged all black males to wear black hoodies   -not in a utilitarian way; as clothing liked and appropriate for the season, place..

but wearing them as statements.    -be me for 30 seconds..

be us.   we'd like to make a few statements:

the survivors of the lakeside serial rapist in san leandro california in the mid 1980's.

we have dreams.    the young woman (#1 known to police) that committed suicide in the aftermath being raped at gunpoint;  she had dreams.     the woman known as the last victim; she had dreams..

and all of us survivors between the first and last known to police victims  -we all have dreams.

***

i was also in a bank when it was arm robbed, in hayward, california.   -black males.   pointing guns at everyone  -made to 'freeze' or die

be me; be us, for 30 seconds today, on martin luther king jr's celebratory, famous speech day

***

the single most important thing he said in his speech as far as i'm concerned:   judge people, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character

do you do that?

i do.   -if anyone has cause to carry a 'racist' attitude, you can agree i have good cause?   but God, prayer, decades of healing; evaluating; assessing; re-trying; healing, evaluating, assessing.. prayer, God, decades of work toward healing..

i have learned and stay in the life long practice of judging people not by their skin color..

nor by their religion, or lack thereof;

i do not judge people by their looks, by their income, by their education

i do not judge by political party affiliation; or by their form of transportation

i judge  -and i do judge; i judge by a person's CONTENT of CHARACTER.     i've said it many times before:

evil does not have a skin color; evil comes in every shape and size across the globe and across all of time.  evil is evil.

so does love.   LOVE comes in every color, shape and size; across the globe, and throughout all of time; beyond time even,  -to infinity; love is eternal.

we do no one on the planet any favors, if we default to excuses, blame or forgiveness based on skin color.    -content of character should be our primary measuring tool; our scale

discerning good from bad; discerning bad from evil; discerning weakness from wickedness

look across the planet, over the history of all humanity; all of time to date

no one group has the monopoly on pain and suffering and injustices

    freedom is not free; period. 

any one individual; any city, any state, any country who desires freedom must fight for it; it is never altruistically handed over in advance upon the sudden enlightenment of abusive people in power 

   i love this example:   hmmm, men..  it just doesnt seem write that woman can't vote.. there's something unsettling, that just doesn't make sense..   why don't we change that today!  yes!  let's go give women the write to vote..   let's do it write now!  

or, circa 1776,    i think our taxes are too high, we might be letting greed get the best of us..  let us lower the taxes for everyone today!

 and you can expand that scenario in a million different ways to fit a million different fights for freedom, from the write to wear your hair long, to the write for equal pay for equal work..  on and on ad nauseum

freedom isn't free; period

and no one group has the monopoly on pain, suffering and injustices

genocides, holocausts, massacres, annihilations..    gang wars, cartels, mafias...   

abusive power; uprisings for freedom..     is one of the most common patterns in all of humanity.

and while we recognize 'America' as being free..

i wonder how many american's really are   -free.

human trafficking, slaves of domestic abuse; slaves to poverty; slaves to drugs; slaves to fear...  slaves to hidden secrets; scandals, skeletons, slaves to greed...

do you want to be free?

you're going to have to fight for it.  everyone one of us is a soldier in a war, whether we are conscious of that fact or not: and many wars there are:  military wars, cyber-wars, bio-wars, spiritual wars..

-the life long battle between good and evil.      i have my armor. [Ephesians 6:10] do you?

In Jesus is the way, the truth, the life    -and i have been set free! 

Hallelujah & Amen

posted by SANDRA HARRISON KAY @ 10:19 AM